Welcome to Gaia! ::

The yellow cab pulled up to the corner of the street with a sharp squeel of worn out breaks. Passersby barely even noticed the cab as they strolled past, save for one man with a breifcase who practically sprinted from the park sidewalk to the cab. Before the woman inside could so much as turn around, the man clamped his hand down on the handle and yanked the door open.

A woman with long, curly dark hair turned her head at the man and gave him a scowl as she pulled a few green bills from a black leather coin purse. She handed the money to the talkative cabbie, then grabbed the bottom of her lavender dress to slide out before the man could start another story about aliens being a government conspiracy. The man in the suit moved to the side just enough for her to slide out, but everything about his body language said that he was seconds away from pushing past her and closing her dress in the door. The woman gave him another irritated glare as she stepped out onto the sidewalk and moved away from the cab. As expected, the suit had slammed the door shut before she was more than a foot away from the cab. The woman grated out something under her breath, then straightened herself out as the cab pulled away from the corner.

Edel Condulmer sighed deeply and ran a finger through her dark hair to push it away from her face. She hated traveling about in this city. Hated it. Unfortunately using her magic to simply teleport herself into the park wasn't an option. Certainly not in this day and age. She doubted that anyone was going to try and drown her or set her on fire, but still. She really needed to find an inconspicuous meeting place that was closer to her city store. Trying to travel anywhere across town was nearly unbearable any more.

As if to prove her point, a few teenagers wearing "hip hop" clothing snickered as they walked past her. She overheard one of them ask something about a steampunk convention as they passed right by her, and squeezed the side of her victorian dress enough to wrinkle it around her hand. Her black eyes flickered towards them, and she entertained the thought of giving the both of them some annoying little dissease. Chicken Pox was always a favorite.

With another irritated little growl, she turned her gaze back towards the sidewalk and began making her way into the park. She didn't have time for such petty little pranks. She had business to do. Though...perhaps they had a bit of a point... Her victorian styled dress wasn't exactly the best for an inconspicuous meeting. Her white suites and elegant dresses were the only other thing she owned though.

....perhaps she should actually make a point of going shopping today. Get a pair of two-hundred dollar jeans.

....riddiculous.

Edel had waited just long enough for the girl she was supposed to meet with to show up. She was a patient woman, but nearly twenty minutes late.... That was a little beyond her level of patience. Especially when she had so much left to do still back at Ailith.

With a heavy sigh, she leaned her head back to look up at the trees. As soon as she felt ready, she was going to find a public restroom and just 'poof' herself back to.....
And then she felt something....different. Very different. Very out of place. And just like that her entire focus sifted from her late meeting to the source of extremely powerful magic. What she found was a man in a fine suit next to the young girl she was supposed to meet with. Her dark eyes turned their focus completely onto the man, and she tried to get a better reading of who...or what the man was.

"I'm sorry!" Morgan said as she approached Edel. She stopped next to the bench and dropped her bag on the bare corner of the bench. Her feet kicking up red and gold leaves as she scooted to a stop. "I'm very sorry, Miss Condulmer. The traffic was terrible and I had to walk."

Morgan flinched a bit when she heard the man's voice behind her. She had kind of expected him to watch her from the enterance to make sure she was okay before leaving. But....not follow her in. When he addressed her by her REAL last name...instead of the fake one she had given Edel...she really cringed.

Luckily though, Edel was far more interested in the mystical being with beautiful eyes and suit standing next to her to have paid any attention to the name he had given her.
"Oh, no. It was no trouble at all." Edel replied, her dark eyes fixed on the man as she stood to politely greet him. "It was such a beautiful day out...and I rarely get time to sit outside like this on a work day." she said, then gently streached her arm out to shake his hand. "I am Edel Condulmer. I run a...bit of a privately owned business on the other end of town."

Morgan sighed slightly to herself, knowing that she wasn't in trouble as of yet.

Edel arched an eyebrow at "Fred", then withdrew her extended hand after he shook it. Bollocks, she thought to herself calmly. Load of bollocks. No one was a simple stock broker with THAT kind of magical aura just radiating off of them. She could think of reasons why a stock broker would have magic abilities, but certainly not THIS much.

"Yes." she replied. "We'd agreed upon meeting here nearly a half an hour ago...but the population here makes it understandable for anyone to be late. Miss...." Edel began, then paused for a beat before slowly turning her attention back towards Morgan. " ....Harris...did you say?"

Morgan's eyes widened a bit, and she inched her way behind the bench. "I.....uh....." was all she could manage to say. Now that her cover was blown, she thought for sure this was going to turn very akward.

".....well that's certainly not the name you gave me upon making the appointment. Are your parents THAT against magic? Or did you have another reason?" Edel asked, her dark eyes now focused on the girl.

Morgan relaxed a bit when she felt Fred put a hand on her shoulder and come to her defence. She blinked when he used the term "milady", but that was about all the reaction she had.

Edel...on the other hand...had turned her full focus back to Feranes. And then a highly intrigued sparkle flashed in her eyes as an amused grin spread over her lips. "I'm sure she did." Edel replied, her voice nearly in a low pur. She couldn't really help it though...it had been so long sinc she'd had anyone so interesting that was so bad at hiding. "Though...I must admit I'm more interested in hearing a bit more about you. It's not often I find someone who hears the word "magic" and doesn't roll their eyes or instantly bring up Harry Potter. Even less often anyone uses the term "milady". Though I'll admit....it's very nice to hear from such a handsome young man."

Both women took a long beat of pause...simply staring at Feranes. Morgan surprised over the man's seriousness...and total unfamiliarity to such a popular character. Edel surprised because....well...even SHE knew what Harry Potter was.

Suddenly Edel grinned from ear to ear, and quickly put a hand up to cover her grin. "Oh, no. Um...Harry Potter is a famous fictional character from books and movies. A wizard boy. Harry spelled H-a-r-r-y." Edel replied.

Edel's smile widened as "Fred" ranted a bit about what creatures are harry and what are not. Her smile widened even more at the sight of the light shade of pink that flushed over the man's cheekbones and ears. It wasn't often she found someone this good looking AND adorable.

"I believe it became a nickname for those who named their child "Harold". Most people now days don't like the "formal" sounding names, so they shorten them to something "cuter" or less formal sounding." Edel replied.

Morgan just stood behind the bench, staring at Feranes. She honestly wasn't sure what to think of the man. She could only assume that he wasn't from around here. Which...um....maybe he was from overseas? Maybe?

"But..." Edel began again, and Morgan turned her bright green eyes over to the older woman. "Perhaps this is not the time or place to discuss such things. Might I ask...where are you from, Mister Hastings? I can tell..." she began, then gave Feranes a knowing little look. "...that you're not familiar certain trends of the time. If you'd prefer not to speak of it here...I can arrange to meet with you in my shop. As it so happens...my day is rather free today. I'd love to have a talk with you when you're free."